'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAHAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFgABAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUH/8QAFQEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAX/2gAMAwEAAhADEAAAAM3tgaX/xAAgEAABBAICAwEAAAAAAAAAAAADAQIEBREhABQHIiUy/9oACAEBAAE/ALa+qy0dfVgarOohQkewae7lJtXLjOt4RNb5B8pXMKFHixbAPXANoh/NF+UTCc//xAAcEQEAAQQDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABAgADETEEIWH/2gAIAQIBAT8AjxbasEyZd97fa//EABkRAAEFAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIAAQMRIf/aAAgBAwEBPwA5LFsX/9k='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Episode 12— the finale episode— of The Masked Singer season 12 was released on December 18. Wasp and Buffalos, the two finalists, faced close competition as the former, who belonged to Group B, and the latter, who represented Group A, delivered some of the best performances of the season.
While the group of three Buffalos bagged the win and was revealed to the boy band Boyz II Men, Wasp won the runner-up title and was revealed to be the pop star, Mario Dewar Barrett.
After his grand reveal, Mario performed his iconic song, Let Me Love You. While the panelists all agreed on Buffalos being Boyz II Men, only Rita Ora and Robin Thicke guessed the Wasp correctly. This discrepancy was also apparent among the fans. While most of them guessed him right, some were even surprised to find out his identity. They took to X to react after the unmasking.
Trending
"The Wasp is Mario!!! Been saying this!" a fan said.
"Seriously..the BEST season of the #TheMaskedSinger ever! I knew all along the Wasp was Mario, took me a couple of episodes to figure out The Buffaloes were Boyz II Men, but I figured it out lol best season ever!" said another fan.
"Wasp IS Mario! Kinda thought about his talking voice!" added a third.
"I got the Wasp right… the Buffaloes have to be Boyz II Men," another wrote.
Some fans of The Masked Singer also said they couldn't tell it was Mario until the unmasking.
"Yoooooo wasp no wayyyyyyy! I should have known it was you," an X user wrote.
"I had no clue it was Mario," another user wrote.
"Looks I got this right from the start that it's Mario as the Wasp Mask," commented one.
"Wasp's reveal had me buzzing! It's MARIO! Guess Rita and Robin know a thing or two. Who's surprised?" another wrote.
Wasp's performance, voiceover, and panelist guesses on The Masked Singer season 12 episode 12
Each of the two finalists performed two songs for The Masked Singer finale episode, out of which Wasp chose the hit When I Was Your Man by Bruno Mars as his first song, and went with I'm Your Baby Tonight by Whitney Houston as his second. After the unmasking, the viewers also got to witness Mario performing his signature song, Let Me Love You.
During his voiceover in The Masked Singer episode, Mario said that coming to the finale made him feel like the experience was made for him, and that he had finally gotten the recognition he had been craving for long. This was because, he said, for a long time in the music industry, he had been feeling "underrated".
"I feel like I’m constantly being overlooked at times, and like people still see me as that cute little kid with that song. They don’t know the depths of my talent. Being here, I felt the opposite. I felt appreciated, validated, celebrated, and all anonymously," he said.
He added that he could feel his mom with him in spirit, and said that if he won he would want to show her the trophy. As for the panelists' guesses, Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg thought it was Jason Derulo, while Ken Jeong took Usher's name. Rita Ora and Robin Thicke both got him right.
The finale episode of The Masked Singer season 12 will be available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu.
